Homecoming is a time for fun for not only current students but also or alumni and the community. During this exciting time, our campus becomes open to many people, so #SafeFalcons, a registered student organization at SAU that focuses on health and safety, thought it would be a great idea to host a panel discussion focusing on safety.
The discussion will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. in Seby Jones auditorium.
To gain more insight on this event, The Falcon Forum spoke to DrApril McCoy, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Exercise Science who serves as the faculty advisor to #SafeFalcons.
When asked what sparked the idea of the safety panel, Dr. McCoy said the idea came about from a conversation between her and Jeydri Urbina, a senior communications major.
Q: How did the idea for the safety panel come about?
A: It was an idea between Jeydri, who serves as the president for #SafeFalcons. She and I were talking about doing something for Homecoming in reference to educating the students about safety. I mentioned that FYE would be a great group since they’re all freshmen and they’re new to this experience. We then spoke to Dr. [Cynthia] Love, [director of professional development]. She was on board so from there we gathered our panel.
Q: Who does the panel include?
A: Jeydri, a few more peer health educators, Jonathon Guerra, who is the director of student activities, [representatives from campus] Public Safety, and myself.
Q: Is the panel open to all the student body or just to freshmen?
A: It’s open to all the students; we just targeted the FYE classes because it was an easier audience to target being that they are the most vulnerable especially during Homecoming because they are still new to college life but, yes, all students are welcome to attend.
Q: Following this year’s Homecoming would you like to make this a tradition?
A: Yes! I would love to make it a tradition because I feel it’s needed. …We’re going to have a lot of people on campus that don’t go here, as well as alumni and people from the community…“I want to inform students not only on being safe during Homecoming but for other things as well — for example, if they’re walking to Cookout or the corner store. So yes, I feel like this should be an annual thing.
— By Tiara Alexander
